Oil stocks fall after price hike deferred

MUMBAI: Shares in state-run oil companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corp Indian Oil Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp dropped between 2-6 per cent after a decision on raising fuel prices was deferred. Shares in ONGC was down 2 per cent at Rs 1,157.65, Indian Oil fell 6.3 per cent to Rs 332.35, HPCL shed 2.8 per cent to Rs 347 and Bharat Petroleum Corp had fallen 2.6 per cent to Rs 548.95 by 0340 GMT, while the main Mumbai market was up 0.4 per cent.

The government deferred till next week a decision on raising fuel prices on Monday, the second time in a year it has tripped on pushing politically-sensitive reform measures that could help trim a budget deficit.